Budweiser Budvar did well in export as well as in brewing lager last year

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České Budějovice, 24th May 2018 – Budweiser Budvar increased the sale of its lager by 2% last year, hence producing the most premium lager in its history. The share of the lager in the overall production of the brewery thus increased to almost 70% of the production, with its sales growing on the domestic market as well as abroad.

Last year, Budweiser Budvar also exported a record volume of beer, as a total of 990.5 thousand hectolitres of beer headed for 76 countries, which represents a 1.5% year-on-year increase. The brewery thus confirmed its position of the second largest exporter of Czech beer with a share of 21.5% of the total Czech exports. Premium lager of the Budweiser Budvar brand was the key type of the exported beer, with its exported volume increasing by 2.6%.

Despite the increase in exports, the total beer production decreased by 4% last year onto 1.547 million hectolitres last year. During the year 2017, the brewery was unable to meet the orders in full. Besides the limited production capacity and overloaded lines, a continuing shortage of workers played its role as well. The drop in sales in the Czech Republic concerned the category of draft beers. “Due to the lack of production capacities, we had planned and anticipated the drop in last year’s domestic sales. At the same time, we focused on the sale of beers with higher added value, i.e. lagers, on the domestic market as well. We have been working hard to expand our production - the brewery premises have been one large building site for the past two years,” says Budweiser Budvar’s managing director Petr Dvořák.

At present, investing in the production development and logistics constitutes the biggest priority of the corporation. Several important buildings have already been completed. Since April, an automated logistics centre worth CZK 750 million has been in trial operation, while the construction of a new lager cellar has been in full swing. The growing demand for canned beer at the beginning of 2018 led to the exchange of can been filling machines, which will allow responding to this demand by means of the brewery’s own capacities. This year, the construction of a new bottling plant and production capacities for the main fermentation will commence. A new brewing room will constitute the final stage of the development plan. Following the completion of all planned investments worth about CZK 2,000 million, the annual brewery production will increase by a quarter to 2 million hectolitres.